This show we welcome Richard Graham from GenkiEnglish.com. Richard runs www.genkienglish.com and provides music, games and downloads for teachers. He tells us a bit about how he got started with music, what was behind the creation of his songs, and what new things are available over at GenkiEnglish.com.

Also, in case you were wondering, we do explain what 'genki' means

Richard also goes over some good ideas for how to teach songs, new words, sentences and delivery. He offers some suggestions for how to keep the excitement up throughout the lesson.

The second segment deals with how to get the students singing. Even if you can't sing like an angel, there's hope. Find out what you can do.

Visit GenkiEnglish.com: This site is a collection of games, songs and ideas for use by teachers of languages to children. Fully illustrated games to get the kids speaking in class. 40+ themed lesson ideas complete with printable picture cards, online teaching guide video, recommended game and original song.

You can also check out what's going on with Richard Graham in his blog: Richard's Diary

Discuss this show here at the eslTeacherTalk Forums! We're listening.

Games of the Week: Mingle and Gorilla

Mingle is a great game for practicing questions related to numbers as answers. It is also a great way to get kids into groups.

Gorilla is a great game to get students moving and interested while you're drilling flashcards. It's a simple game and very effective for keeping the children engaged in the lesson.

Thanks for listening!

_________________Build up! Be positive! Teach hard!

Last edited by mesmark on Tue Jun 24, 2008 7:22 am, edited 1 time in total.

Tue Oct 23, 2007 9:53 am

patrick

MES-Zealot!

Joined: Mon Jun 18, 2007 11:33 amPosts: 289Location: Niigata

Mark,

What am I doing wrong? I can't seem to get any of the links to work. I have been trying for awhile with no success. I'm sure it's just something stupid I've overlooked...

Onegai!

_________________'Sharing a little, gaining a lot'

Tue Oct 23, 2007 10:15 am

mesmark

Site Admin

Joined: Mon Jan 02, 2006 10:46 amPosts: 2130Location: Nagano, Japan

It may have to do with the file type (.m4a). It makes the files a lot smaller which is great to keep bandwidth down, but I think some systems haven't caught up with it yet.

When I click it, it opens in a new window and plays in Quick Time. I think other people who have had problems just right click, save the files to their computer, and then listen that way.

Let me know how you make uot and what you think of the show.

_________________Build up! Be positive! Teach hard!

Tue Oct 23, 2007 10:26 am

patrick

MES-Zealot!

Joined: Mon Jun 18, 2007 11:33 amPosts: 289Location: Niigata

gggrrr! I've been having this problem with my computer for awhile. Everytime I open it, I keep getting an "OpenMG Secure Module" error.

_________________'Sharing a little, gaining a lot'

Tue Oct 23, 2007 7:15 pm

Genki Richard

MES-Addict

Joined: Wed Aug 16, 2006 2:46 pmPosts: 31Location: Stockholm, Sweden

Hi Patrick,

You might want to have a look at the "VLC Media Player", it's small, free and seems to play anything you throw at it.

This show we welcome Richard Graham from GenkiEnglish.com. Richard runs www.genkienglish.com and provides music, games and downloads for teachers. He tells us a bit about how he got started with music, what was behind the creation of his songs, and what new things are available over at GenkiEnglish.com.

!

hello,
I know this topic is ancient, but I have just recently discovered GenkiEnglish and I think it's great, exactly what the classes for young kids should look like. This man is so lucky to have such enormous energy and so many ideas. Mark I really wanted to ask you what's your opinion about it.

Sun Jul 24, 2011 12:54 am

mesmark

Site Admin

Joined: Mon Jan 02, 2006 10:46 amPosts: 2130Location: Nagano, Japan

I really like Richard's style and when I was teaching at elementary schools, I worked in a similar manner. I would go in with a lot of energy and get the students pretty worked up. It was a lot of fun and if you can get 30+ kids all working together you can really get a lot done. (I wasn't aware of Genki English when I was teaching at the elementary schools here.)

I never used much music in my classes. Mostly because I didn't think the songs we usually sing keep the energy level up and because in my class routine I just didn't have time for it. Also, while songs are great for pronunciation practice and fluency, they often aren't so good for actual language learning in my opinion. Richard's songs however keep the energy up and are targeted for language learning. And these days there are a ton of options for language learning music.

Genki English is definitely a style. I think it will work great for some teachers and others might like a more relaxed approach. The type of class might make a difference as well. I only teach small groups of young learners, 3-6 students per group. With small groups like that, I don't pour a lot of energy into the class, because you can't get that frenzy going. It becomes calmer and we have a different kind of learning fun. The kids tend to be a little more shy in the small groups. I also don't do much singing with kids over 6 years old. I find the older kids don't really like to sing when it's just me and a few students.

_________________Build up! Be positive! Teach hard!

Sun Jul 24, 2011 6:31 am

Ivana

MES-Fanatic!

Joined: Sun May 09, 2010 4:58 pmPosts: 59

great answer, it's obvious you have loads of experience. In my opinion any approach to teaching little children has to abound in energy (maybe not exactly to the same amount as richard's ) otherwise kids are not into it. Could you share the "calmer" activities they like? The only alternative I have found out so far is me clowning and acting for them.
Speaking about "calmer" activities, I find reading especially difficult since they gather around you and want to turn pages on their own, and of course they don't understand a word of what you read to them so it's difficult to see the point of reading to them at all.

Mon Jul 25, 2011 2:00 am

funwithstories

MES-Zealot!

Joined: Wed Jan 24, 2007 8:57 pmPosts: 135

I agree that Richard has a high-energy style. However I have also seen a strict no-nonsense teacher use GE with success. She didn't jump up and down and sing, and her teaching tone was the same as if she were teaching any other subject. This was also a class of 6 11-12 year old students. She did, however, allow students to laugh and play some timed-race game and a GE version of Uno.

GE works because of the repetitions, fun graphics/videos, and catchy tunes. There is a reason a lot of commercials use songs; people remember them. I don't require my student to sing, but most of the songs are made up of questions students can relate to, so for example, I have them stand up when they like a certain thing, or if they can do a certain task. Sometimes I teach them the sign language and have them sign along with the song. More times than not, I have 11-12 year old students singing along in class. I often hear them humming the tune in the hallways. Since classes are at best once a week, having a way that will keep the language in their mind is a great tool.

I think as with any teaching material, you have to match it with your own teaching style and class situation. In my teaching, I do both. I have high energy with an elementary class of 30 students, or I am much more reserved with a private class of 3. For those I see more frequently, I add phonics, and storytelling. GE does work, with or without the high energy.

Mon Aug 08, 2011 9:11 am

Kiwione

MES-Zealot!

Joined: Thu Feb 09, 2006 1:36 pmPosts: 386Location: Tohoku Japan

Re:

Ivana wrote:

great answer, it's obvious you have loads of experience. In my opinion any approach to teaching little children has to abound in energy (maybe not exactly to the same amount as richard's ) otherwise kids are not into it. Could you share the "calmer" activities they like? The only alternative I have found out so far is me clowning and acting for them.Speaking about "calmer" activities, I find reading especially difficult since they gather around you and want to turn pages on their own, and of course they don't understand a word of what you read to them so it's difficult to see the point of reading to them at all.

I see what you are saying, but I don't totally agree. Sure you may need a little more energy than a JHS class but you don't have to ABOUND in energy. I know some 50 year olds teaching only elementary schools kids and they don't "ABOUND" in energy. OK, you obviously don't talk in a monotone voice and sit in a chair all lesson but ........

I agree with funwithsories (above)

I also use Genki English and it works well, easy to remember, catchy melodies and lots of repitition